Ngige Said Why Tinubu Government Should Raise Minimum Wage

Chris Ngige, the minister of labor and employment, has requested that the Bola Tinubu administration, which will take office on May 29, review the minimum wage for workers.

Ngige stated during a Wednesday appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today program that the Tinubu administration should review the current minimum wage that is available in the nation.

According to Ngige, the pay increase will help civil servants offset the effects of inflation, rising living expenses, rising transportation costs, rising housing costs, and rising electricity and other utility costs.

The minister further stated that by May 2024, the incoming administration should propose a new minimum wage that is higher than the current N30,000 level.

Additionally, he claimed that a pay raise for “hardcore civil servants” with effect from January 1, 2023, has been authorized by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and has been budgeted for in 2023.

Although many states have yet to adopt it, the minister claimed that the minimum wage that was submitted to the National Assembly in 2018 increased from N18,000 to N30,000.

He claimed that the minimum wage will now automatically be reviewed every five years to fit the current standard of living as it was written into the legislation that was sent to the legislature.

“We firmly established that bill or law that the minimum wage will now be reviewed automatically every five years,” he said.

“So, starting in May of 2024, five years will have passed since it went into effect in 2019, but we also made a recommendation in the document we submitted that the discussion and negotiation should begin one year earlier.

So, I’m assuming that starting in May 2023, the government will appoint a new committee to review the nation’s minimum wage.

“I am recommending that the discussions begin at any time in May 2023 in my handover note, which I will give to the transition committee and the next government.”